Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American Libraries
TV News
Understanding 9/11The Refutation of Machiavelli's Prince or, Anti-Machiavel
Bookreader Item Preview
This item contains content some
may find inappropriate or offensive
Discretion is advised
- Usage
- Public Domain Mark 1.0
From The Fortnightly Review vol. 115 pp. 117
It must not be supposed, however, that none of Machiavelli's critics have been students of his works, and one of the most celebrated of these was no less a personage than Frederick the Great of Prussia. The history of the Anti-Machiavel, which he wrote and Voltaire published, is a strange one, and it has been exhaustively told by Carlyle, who does not, however, show his usual acumen in dealing with the importance of Il Principe. “Perhaps mankind is getting weary of the question altogether," he writes; "Machiavelli himself one only reads now on compulsion—'What is the use of arguing with anybody who can believe in Machiavelli?' asks mankind, or might well ask, and except for editorial purposes eschews Anti-Machiavel, impatient to be rid of bane and antidote both. Truly this world has had a pother with this little Niccolò Machiavelli and his perverse little book. And as to the other question, was the Signor Niccolò serious in his perverse little book, or did ho only do it ironically, with a serious inverse purpose? We will leave that to be decided, any time convenient, by people who are much at leisure in the world."
It must not be supposed, however, that none of Machiavelli's critics have been students of his works, and one of the most celebrated of these was no less a personage than Frederick the Great of Prussia. The history of the Anti-Machiavel, which he wrote and Voltaire published, is a strange one, and it has been exhaustively told by Carlyle, who does not, however, show his usual acumen in dealing with the importance of Il Principe. “Perhaps mankind is getting weary of the question altogether," he writes; "Machiavelli himself one only reads now on compulsion—'What is the use of arguing with anybody who can believe in Machiavelli?' asks mankind, or might well ask, and except for editorial purposes eschews Anti-Machiavel, impatient to be rid of bane and antidote both. Truly this world has had a pother with this little Niccolò Machiavelli and his perverse little book. And as to the other question, was the Signor Niccolò serious in his perverse little book, or did ho only do it ironically, with a serious inverse purpose? We will leave that to be decided, any time convenient, by people who are much at leisure in the world."
Reviews
There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to
write a review.
8,949 Views
20 Favorites
IN COLLECTIONS
Fringe
Log In Required 
No Preview 
Deemphasized Collections 
Uploaded by Cheimison on
